Advantages

Disadvantages

Detox diet for your face!

When I was about 12 I went through a bit of a Hippy phase - I was known as Hippy Hayley with a love of 60s music and a hatred of meat and dairy products caused me to become Vegan. I have since relaxed my views but I still love the old organic products that are filled with natural goodness!

Bourjois always seem to cater for my revisited Hippy needs as I had been loving the Healthy Mix range and also the collagen version. I was intrigued to try some more so when I came across the Bio Detox Foundation - I could not wait to try!

I really love the concept that it is made from organic natural products that have been sourced locally and appropriately. It's enriched with chlorophyll (NOT chloroform which I first thought until my boyfriend kindly pointed out my mistake through fits of laughter!) - that is extracted from plants to attract oxygen to your skin so it can 'breathe' and also filters pollution and the grime we pick up from every day activities! This helps to leave your skin feeling fresh, pure and clean. This foundation claims to perfectly even out your skin tone whilst minimising pores and concealing imperfections. I love the fact that it melts into your skin and almost becomes part of it rather than sitting on top like The Phantom Of The Opera's mask!

I would recommend testing the shades before buying as everyones colouring is different so you should find the perfect shade for you personally. I chose the lightest, 51 Light Vanilla, and have found that the colour is slightly darker than my own skin tone but with a bit of blending and contouring it works fine for me!

The packaging is very fresh and almost sporty - something you would expect to see in a luxury spa or salon. The bottle is see through and is skin toned coloured which helps you decide on the shade even more. In green lettering (play on the Hippy theme I think) is the word Detox and Chlorophyll at the bottom, the rest of the information is in silver. The whole design and look of the foundation is very modern and stylish, im proud to have it in my collection. Once you take off the white lid there is a pump to aid easy application - something I love as you can control how much you use and make sure you get every last drop out!

I usually apply my foundation with a foundation or stippling brush however I found that when I did it was not blending as well as I would have liked. I don't like to use my fingers as I think it spread bacteria around your face so I decided to try a damp make up sponge and found this to be the best way to apply and also blend. Another thing is it was very hard to move around and go where I wanted it to with ease so my quick fix was to mix one pump of moisturiser in with one pump of foundation - the only thing is this turned it into a tinted moisturiser effect and didn't give me much coverage. This could just be me and my skin but if you have suffered that with any foundation it's a little trick you could try.

Having said that, once it was on it looked lovely and really did make my complexion appear more smoother and pores did look a lot smaller and less noticeable. It lasts for about 4 to 5 hours with some powder to set it, you can wear on its own as its quite matte however I find some setting powder helps it to stay put longer.

Bourjois held a survey of 101 women who tested this foundation, the results were:

84% agreed that this foundation lasted 'all day long'77% agreed that 'imperfections were smoothed away'81% agreed that the formula 'leaves a light feel on the skin'Now can you argue with the stats?

As well as this the Bio Detox Foundation is non pore blocking and is oil free - so if you have oily skin there's no need to run for the hills! Also works well for dry skin as it has an anti shine thanks to the natural rice powder ingredients. Fancy!

Available at Boots or Boots.com, Superdrugs, the Bourjois website as well as any shop that stocks Bourjois, and all good online make up stores.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A great idea of organic properties foundation but it does not live up to it's claims

I have been using the Bourjois Bio Detox foundation for about six months. I bought it to replace another brand which had ran out and as I have yet to find a foundation that I love, I tend to try a new one each time.

***WHY THIS FOUNDATION?***

I am not particularly loyal to any one brand and tend to go for mid range price ones, Bourjois fitted this criteria coming in at around £10 for 30mls from Boots and is good for 12 months from opening.What immediately caught my attention was the fact it said it was "bio detox organic" and having tried other Bourjois make-up I was swayed.

***ABOUT THE PRODUCT***

It comes in a hard clear plastic bottle with a semi-opaque lid which uncovers a pump action dispenser. The facts that are sated on the bottle and which got me to buy the product are as follows -98.8% of the ingredients are from a natural origin and 21.9% of ingredients are from organic farming.It has an eco certificate stating it is an organic product.It contains chlorophyll, which apparently will "bring oxygen to my skin and help filter out pollutants", which in turn give me a "fresh and even complexion and detoxified skin."It comes in a few colour variations and gives a matt finish with medium coverage. According to the website www.bourjois.co.uk he product is also non por blocking and enables shine free coverage.

***SO WHAT DO I THINK?***

The bottle - I like the fact that it is clear and you can see how much is left and going by mine it will probably last just under the twelve months by when you are supposed to bin it anyway. The lid is easy to pull on/off and is quite a secure fit, the pump action dispenser though I am not so in love with. If you dispense it fully you get a pea sized amount although it is simple enough to control for a lesser quantity. The down side is that it quickly becomes very messy with the product being left around the hole and then being rubbed all around the top when you put the lid on/off.

The foundation - I have tried applying the foundation in several ways to see in the results are different. 1. Moisturise - foundation via fingers 2. Moisturise - foundation via brush. 3. Moisturise - skin smoother/balancer - foundationI always seem to come up with the same results apart from it is slightly easier to apply after the balancer has been applied. The foundation itself is slightly thicker than a fluid foundation but not as dense as a cream.The foundation never seems to blend well into my skin, I can always still see it and sometimes if my skin is a little dry in places the foundation clings / cakes there and is difficult to absorb. Due to this I find it difficult to imagine that it would not be blocking my pores, I realise this may be just my skin but it reminds me of my first ever foundations when I was a teenager.Coverage is average in my opinion, if I have a spot I will have to put concealer over it as well, although it does last for around 5 hours I find on general day, with the chin area and forehead giving first to dreaded shine. Unfortunately I don't feel that it gives me a fresh and even complexion, I have persisted in using it with different moisturisers but I am doubtful that I will use this product for much longer if I am honest.It is such a shame as the products eco organic properties sound so appealing.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A great idea, a shame that the forumla isn't quite up to scratch!

WHY I BOUGHT THIS PRODUCT

I was recommened the brand by a work colleague. I desperately needed a foundation and didn't have time to get to a MAC or Illamasqua store (these are my usual foundation brands). I was told that Boirjois makeup is made in the same factory as Chanel makeup, and therefore a lot of the same ingredients are used. I liked the idea of having a Chanel quality foundation for a fraction of the price!

I work in London, so as you might be aware, am exposed to a lot of polution. This was my only thought process in chosing a foundation that could 'detox' my skin in any way, shape or form!

"...Detoxify your skinFor a pure, fresh and even complexionThis foundation perfectly evens out the complexion, minimizing pores' appearance and concealing imperfections.Enriched with chlorophyll from plants that brings oxygen and filters pollution, it leaves the skin pure and fresh.Its formula melts onto the skin for a no mask effect.

98.8% of the total ingredients are from natural origin21.9% of the total ingredients are from Organic Farming" - www.bourjois.co.uk

PRICE

At £10.99 for 30ml (purchased from Boots) this foundation is a little more expensive than other High Street branded foundation.

I cannot say that this is a fair price, and think around the £7.99 mark would be more reasonable for a product of this quality.

It pays to shop around too! After purchasing this from Boots, I saw the same foundation come up for £5 on the website 'Brand Alley'.

PACKAGING

The foundation is in a clear glass bottle. Nice and chunky, so unlikely to get smashed in your makeup bag. The labelling is in silver and green, with the green lettering reinforcing all the 'natural' and 'organic' claims. The opaque lid means that you can easily see if any foundation is building up and therefore keep it clean, and the pump application keeps the foundation sanitary and again, means you can keep your bottle clean very easily.

COLOUR

The foundation is available in around 8 different shades. When I tried to find a perfect colour match, I used 3 different light colours on the inside of my wrist. I opted for the middle colour, one colour up from the palest shade. This is 'Vanilla' and is light with cool undertones. If you have warm toned skin you may struggle to find a perfect shade. All the light colours appeared 'cool' to me, with more golden / yellow tones than pink.

APPLICATION

First of all, this really is a foundation for oily skin. Oily skin that needs a medium level of coverage.

I applied a few pumps of the foundation all over my (cleansed, toned and moisturised) skin. I would normally blend foundation using only my finger tips. I find sponges soak up too much product, and brushes leave brush tracks / lines. This foundation however, was a real challenge to blend! I actually used a dampened makeup sponge in the end because it just kept drying before I could do anything! When I had applied this product all over and finished with my blending, I was VERY pleased with the result! All unevenness of colour and any open pores were now invisible. I am someone with the occasional breakout and some unevenness and a few scars / open pores. However, with this foundation I felt as though my skin was flawless and radiant!I even had compliments from people I barely knew!

LONGEVITY

Now this is where the foundation loses marks.

After a few hours of wearing this foundation, it had started to do an odd 'separating' thing on my skin. I ended up with crumbly, dry looking patches of foundation on some of my face, and no foundation at all on the other parts. Yuk!It wasn't a case of just adding more either, the old dried up foundation would need to be removed, or it would just 'bunch up' under the new foundation, in a kind of 'peeling skin' looking effect!

OVER ALL

I can see why this foundation has been given bad ratings before. I can only see it working for a very niche clientelle of oily, cool tone skinned people! And I think you would need VERY oily skin for this foundation not to dry up after an hour or so.

I love the skin detoxifying claims from this foundation, and how it uses most natural and some organic ingredients.

If more thought is put into the actual formula, this could be a real winner of a concept.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A natural foundation designed to mattify oily skin but works a little too well!

The Bio Detox Organic Foundation by Bourjois is a little different from other foundations in its price range. It is free from oil which makes this the perfect foundation for people with oily skin and it promises to keep the complexion completely matte free without clogging the pores. But what makes this extra special and suprising from a brand like Bourjois is that 98.8% of the foundations ingredients have natural origins. Even more wonderful is that 21.9% of those ingredients are organic.

What does it do? The foundation is designed to give you a flawless coverage which evens out the skin tone while hiding blemishes and other imperfections. The product claims that it will minimise the appearance of enlarged pores and that it will absorb the excess oils from the skin and leave it matte in appearance. Its biggest promise is that the natural ingredients will help to detoxify the skin by adding oxygen and removing pollutants so that your skin remains fresh and clean.

How does it work?The product contains Chlorophyll which is present in order to detoxify the skin and to leave it feeling pure and clean. Chlorophyll is the substance that makes the leaves of plants and trees green in colour and it helps the plant to make its own energy by taking in Carbon Dioxide and turning it into 0xygen. As it does so in this foundation, takes the Carbon Dioxide and toxins that are lurking in the skin from pollution and transforms it into Oxygen.

The natural rice powder within the foundation is responsible for maintaining a matte appearance as the substance absorbs any excess oils that are lying on the skin, like little sponges. At the same time, it draws moisture into the skin, leaving it hydrated, nourished and moisturised.

How do you use it?The product is to be used in the same way as your usual foundation. It is to be applied to skin that has been cleansed, toned and exfoliated and after the skin has been moisturised.

You take a small pump of the product onto your fingers or a make up brush and smooth the liquid onto the skin, covering all areas with an equal amount. Take special care around the eyebrows and hairline and blend in carefully around the jaw line.

Packaging and PriceThe product comes in a clear, glass bottle that looks expensive but can be a pain for travelling with as it's fairly heavy. You also need to be careful that it doesn't get knocked about too much although the glass is fairly thick so it would take a lot to smash it. The product comes in about nine different shades so you should find one that closely matches your skin. They have fairly boring names when compared with the imagination of some brands, but at least they are pretty self explanatory.

It has a clear lid to keep the product clean and it has a white pump mechanism in order to access the product. You push down on the top and the foundation is released. There is some writing on the bottle but other than that, the bottle is plain. The product will cost around £10 and can be bought from most large department stores and many online websites.

My thoughtsHad I read reviews about this product before buying it, then I wouldn't have gone anywhere near the foundation. A lot of people seem to have developed a hatred towards this product and I can see why they may feel that way.

I wouldn't even think about trying this product unless you have very oily skin. If you have dry, normal or combination skin then you'll be disappointed. You will also need to have moisturised very well before using this, but then you should really be doing that anyway if you want to keep your skin looking younger for longer.

The reason for so many peoples disappointment is the consistency of this product. Its texture is very chalky and thick which means that it can lead to caking on the face and horrible dry patches of make up flaking on your skin. It doesn't look natural on the face, ironic with all the natural ingredients, and it's completely obvious that you are wearing make up.

It also dries extremely quickly so you need to move fast to massage it into the skin before the texture changes too much in order to do so. I managed to combat this by applying and massaging the foundation in completely on one small area at a time. Drastic measures!

On my skin, the foundation is lovely of parts of my face for some of the time. It keeps my complexion matte and gives very good coverage on the normally oily areas. It hides imperfections and doesn't cause any new blemishes to develop. I get dry skin on my nose and forehead and that is where this foundation looks bad if my skin is a tiny bit flaky on that area before using this.

The quick drying formula means that it is difficult to blend this if you don't do it immediately which means you're left with patchy make up. To apply other make up top such as a powdered bronzer makes the situation worse as it sort of sits on top of the caked make up, yuk!

It does look good on the areas of my face where I don't suffer from dry skin and that's why I would recommend it for those who have very oily skin. I would say that you don't even need to apply a mattifying powder over the top. If you have any other skin type though, leave this one on the shelf. Mine's going on Ebay!